Florence Cameron
LMHC, MCAP, ICADC
Counselor/Therapist
Bonita Springs, USA
Answers questions in Addictions · Alcoholism · Anxiety
About Florence Cameron
Being a divorced young-mother, and raising 3 Sons I learned quickly the value of Education. Struggling was not new to me it was a way of life. Taking my hands off the wheel was never an option. Pursuing college in my mid thirties, I experienced a level of fear unknown to me thou I persevered. I came to know much more than I could ever have imagined, as I fit this new awareness with personal experiences providing deeper meaning. I love what I do
What I do
Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Master Certified Addiction Professional and International Reciprocity Addiction Counselor.
Working with individuals and couples in Bonita Springs, Naples, Estero and Ft. Myers FL
My story
Being a divorced young-mother, and raising 3 Sons I learned quickly the value of Education. Struggling was not new to me it was a way of life. Taking my hands off the wheel was never an option. Pursuing college in my mid thirties, I experienced a level of fear unknown to me thou I persevered. I came to know much more than I could ever have imagined, as I fit this new awareness with personal experiences providing deeper meaning. I love what I do
Why life is worth living
We each have a purpose here on earth...to know ourself, to create ourself, to experience ourself as Who We Really Are.
Treatment Offered
Specialties
Therapy approaches
Patient population
Modalities
Answered Questions(52)
Losing Family and Friends to Alcoholism
Hello, I just read your comments on losing a friend to alcoholism. I agree with your comments and thoughts. I am wondering if there is published research in this area. I am just starting on my counselling degree and would like to explore this area in more detail. Any information you could pass on would be greatly appreciated. Scott
Read answer →Nocturnal Enuresis - Alcohol Use
my bf wouldnt consider himslf a alcoholic some nights he rinks more than others some nights only a beer or two but has been drinking for years recently at age 50 has started kinda wetting the bed not bad just more drips could this be the liver or kidneys ? he told me he needs to pee alot lately.
Read answer →Losing Friends to Alcoholism
I think my best friend of 20 years is an alcoholic. Over the last five years our friendship has deteriorated...and this past summer i walked away from the friendship. I can't live with her judgmental eye and harsh words anymore. My question is, how do you know? For sure? I left the friendship trying to figure out why she acted and said the things she said but being away, I feel I have an answer. Do I confront her, now that we aren't talking or wait for her to hit her own rock bottom. In the end, I miss my friend, but as an alcoholic, I think I lost her a long time ago... Thanks for any advice you have.
Read answer →Recovery is Not Easy on the Family
I am married to an alcoholic whom is trying to finally become a recovering alcoholic. He has wanted to stop drinking many many times in the past. He has cried about wanting to stop. We have had many late night conversations about doing it and why he couldn't do it or can't at the moment. His biggest worry is the fact that he is afraid of the person he might become. He has drank for most of his life, more now than when I first met him it seems. What changed and finally sunk in was the fact that he has been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. As a spouse I have been a co dependent so I could spend more time with him. That didn't work out well because I have really never been more than a three drinks in one night person and the spins suck. My husband has no idea what they feel like because he can drink endlessly and still not get the spins or get sick. I have been the wife acting like his mother kind of role. I have been the bitch wife, constantly bitching about finances, his time 'not' home, his sex drive and his short temper and anger issues. We have talked sensibly about his wants and the why's and what are we going to do about this disease that me not being an alcoholic just couldn't get a grasp on. I just couldn't get my head into his understanding and his way of thinking. Now that he has been diagnosed with Cirrhosis of the liver he has quit drinking and "YES" I am very proud of him. and he has quit smoking as well. He's been drinking for close to 40 years. My concerns now are his mood swings and short temper. We are experiencing or maybe It's just me, self esteem issues. I'm afraid to say anything to him for fear of making him angry. I don't want to walk on eggshells though. He makes me feel feel like my IQ is not high enough to have a conversation. It's like a competition as to who is going to win the right to take over a conversation and who's story is more important. We can get into an argument over the weather report. OMG! I just want to scream at times. I didn't do a load of laundry yesterday and he gets so upset and mad. I didn't hear what he said the day before and he bit my head off. I don't know what I should be doing right now. I want to support him, I've been trying this whole time so why do I feel like running more now than before after all these years? I know he is going to change but how much? I'm so confused now. I'm choking up just typing this. HELP! I need some insight as to what to expect as a wife of a recovering alcoholic.
Read answer →Adult Child Concerned about Father
My dad is going to rehab after 30 years of drinking. He drank all through my childhood. He has cirohosis now which is the only reason he is going. Does he have any chance? He is not even all there upstairs.
Read answer →When Will My Thinking Clear?
I am 43 days 100% alcohol free sober. I am 29 years old and this is the first time I am sober since I was a teenager (a young one…). I need to get started making a life for myself because if I stay where I am (not a good place) I know I will get back to drinking. That is all anyone does here. The roadblock that is stopping me is that I cannot all of a sudden make a decision on anything. This morning it took me 5 minutes to pick a bottle of ketchup at the supermarket. People were starting to stare at me it was so weird but I just felt paralyzed by all the choices. This happens with everything I do to the point that I almost can’t even do anything. Forget about making long term plans because I cannot even make a decision on what to eat for lunch and I can get hung up thinking about it for an hour, just sitting in the kitchen and starting at me options. Honestly I am feeling like I am losing my mind a little bit and it is scary. Is there anything I can do to make this go away?
Read answer →I relapsed, now what?
I have been an alcoholic for my whole life since I was 16. I am 34 now. I have been to rehab a DUI program and lots of AA meetings but nothing helped until I met a woman who was too good to be true who agreed to marry me as long as I would stop drinking completely. That was what I needed and it was 2 years ago that I did it and I didn’t have a drink once until a week ago. For the first time in 2 years my fiancée went to Boise to visit her mom who just had a masectomey for a week to help her after her surgery. As soon as she started packing her suitcase I started having strong drinking fanatacies and after I dropped her at the airport I couldn’t help myself and I went and bought a fifth. My heart was pounding so hard as I walked into the liquor store to buy it. It feels like I have a free pass to get away with it. She is coming back in 2 days and I have already cracked a bottle today. I know if she was not coming back I would not and could not stop. I called in sick from work and I have been drinking since she left. She said if I ever drank again she would not marry me so I cannot tell her but I need her to help me so I do not know what to do.
Read answer →Please Don't Send Me To Rehab. Is There Another Way?
I am not looking for medical advice since I know you cannot provide that on a forum like this but what I am looking for is a general bit of advice on how bad my detox is probably going to be. I am 27 and I have been drinking since I was 18. I was a heavy drinker for a long time but I never used to drink alone. My girlfriend split 18 months ago and a little bit after that I got over my taboo feelings for drinking by myself and for the last 13 months it has been every night that I have drank. I am only a beer drinker and I will drink a minimum of 6 beers per night and a maximum of 12 beers. Probably averaging about 8 beers per night. I really feel like I need to drink now by after work and the first thing I do when I get home in the evening is open a beer but I don’t get the shakes or anything like that in the day time. I have gained a lot of weight in the past year but other than that I think my health is OK. I know I need to quit but I really don’t want to go to rehab. Since I have only been drinking every day for about a year is it going to be too bad? I feel like if I don’t drink something bad will happen to me but I don’t know if I am just using this as an excuse to keep drinking every night.
Read answer →Addiction is a Selfish Disease
I have two kids that are 2 and 4. Don’t know what to do. I am a crackhead and I can’t stop myself anymore I spend my checks until they are gone and then the feeling I have when I smoke that last rock is so horrible. I was the one who used to hold my boyfriends money and I always thought I’d never turn into an addict like he was. I could always just smoke one day a week or two but now it is like binge 24-7. I have no money no family to turn to no friends I can trust and I need help cuz I can’t stop even though I hate it so much. I have no money so I have to go to the mission or human services for treatment but I am so scared that if I do that the first thing they will do is come and take my kids away. I know someone who went in to ask about help and 2 days later social workers came and took her kids away and she wasn’t even that bad.
Read answer →Thirteen and Scared
I'm 13 how do I tell my parents I might have depression
Read answer →Exasperated Mother
Does molly come as a rock like crack cocaine? How bad is it for you compared to other drugs? I found some in my sons school bag and he says he got it at school for a party on the weekend and he is just holding it for his friends. Thought it was crack and I was so scared but he said it was just molly which is like E. I am at the edge of losing my mind with worry about this boy and there is nothing I can do or say to get through to him because he has more money than I do. I have taken away all privileges and he doesn’t care because whatever I can take from him he seems to just be able to get from his friends or he buys for himself from money his dad gives him. He does work for it in my ex husbands restaurant but he gets far more than he should so he can afford to party all the time when I have to work two jobs to pay the bills.
Read answer →Post Traumatic Stress and Marijuana
Hi Jeannie: I smoked pot nearly everyday for 10 years (I started smoking regularly when I was 18 and am now 28). To be a functional member of society, I only really ever smoked at night. I have always been very functional during the day (I am a lawyer) and would just light up when I got home or sometimes if I had a busy day just right before bed. It was always a very manageable addiction and I always felt extremely happy and lucky to have the life that I do. For the past ten years I would characterize myself and extraordinarily happy. Almost everything in my life had gone right. Great career success, many friends/popularity, incredible wife and strong relationships with friends and family. About 7 weeks ago, I witnessed an accident where someone died and I tried to help as a first-responder without success. I thought I was fine and went back to smoking a couple days after the accident. For two weeks I was fairly 'normal' until one afternoon (maybe 4-5 weeks ago) smoking started causing severe anxiety that carried through to my mornings and days. I would have strange thoughts that something could be wrong with me, first physically, like rare bacterial infections, then mentally, like anxiety disorders or obsessive thoughts. After a couple days of smoking causing this anxiety, I quit smoking altogether basically 'cold turkey'. I was okay for a couple weeks although I had a lingering worry that would come about a few times a day. I tried one more time after these two weeks (so about 2-3 weeks ago) when I thought I was feeling better and it caused my anxiety to mushroom even further, to the point where I was focusing on it all the time for about a week. I calmed down a little over the last week or two but still have nearly constant anxiety that something is wrong with me, at this point mentally (the somatic worries have been overtaken by the mental ones...) Do you have any insight as to what may be causing this/when I can expect to feel normal again/how I can speed that process up? My biggest worry at this point is that I'll never feel normal... Thanks
Read answer →Have I caused too much damage in my marriage?
If I was a drunk for 15 years and then I quit by the time I was 32 and if I didn’t drink or smoke again after that and lived healthy do you think my drinking will cause me to die an early death? I have 3 years sober and I am really happy at my life today and I just wonder if I drank for too long and the damage is already too much done.
Read answer →My desire to drink is gone, Am I cured?
I was drinking real bad for years, landed in the hospital with kidney failure the doctors didnt think id make it but did. i stayed sober for like 6 months and then started drinking again, got pancreatitus and in the hospital again, since then i lost the desire to drink. on occasion i will have a couple beers or drinks but not to the point of drunkiness. I just lost the desire to drink anymore like i used too which was a fifth a day or more. at thanksgiving i had 2 glasses of wine and when my son comes home on leave i will have a beer or 2 with him. even now i have a partial 12 pack from when he was here but have no desire to drink any, Christmas is around the corner and i probablly will have some beer or maybe wine but still dont feel like getting drunk. I used to drink til i passed out and when i woke start over again everyday after work and all day on my days off. my question is am i cured or will i relapse...?
Read answer →Alcholism and Crazy Making
My friend is a heavy drinker. I guess you would call him an alcoholic but he owns his own business and he gets by OK. I would say he has been drinking for about 35 years. I would say he drinks about 10 beers a night on average. In the last year I have noticed a change in his personality. He has become more aggressive in his personality and he does not seem to be able to see any one’s elses point of view. It is not like he is ignoring it but it is like he can’t even understand that people have a different way of seeing things. He is also getting really rigid. Like if things don’t go according to schedule he gets really upset, even if it is things that don’t matter. Like if I call and say I am coming over at 4 and then I show up at 3:40 he is so upset for no real reason. He also does not seem to be able to listen very well anymore. He will ask you a question but he can’t take in what you are saying. It is hard to explain but he just can’t process what you are saying to him. Do these changes I am seeing come from drinking? If I am seeing these things now does that mean something significant is happening? Sometimes he talks about wanting to quit but he is so stubborn and because of the reasons I listed above it is impossible to get him to do something he does not want to do.
Read answer →Cognitive Malfunction after 20+ years of Alcohol Abuse
I am 4 months sober after 20 plus years of alcoholism. Sometimes now I get in the car to go somewhere and then halfway through the ride I forget where I am going and I can’t remember so I just drive around for a while until I remember or sometimes I just go back home. This is scary because I am only 42 and I feel like I have alzheimers. Can you tell me that this is a normal experience to be having because of recovery?
Read answer →What to do? . . . What to do?
I have used Cocaine off and on for many years< but after my last binge, i cant get over the depression. I have always been able to get back to work. I dont know what to do, i dont have insurance and every place i called requires it. What can i do?
Read answer →Self-Medicating and Escape.. Dangerous Combo
My 7 year old daughter died in a car accident 5 months ago. She was my only child. I am out of control with drinking and drugs. I went to an AA meeting but I am not ready for this. I do not want to hear other people’s tragedies and there is no way I am sharing mine. No one knows how much I am drinking. I go to this grief support group and everyone there thinks I am so good and I don’t want them to know that I am letting everything fall apart actually.
Read answer →Weighing the Risks
I am in a bad position where I have been asked to consider being a possible kidney donor for a cousin who is an alcoholic. It is still in the early stages so it is not for sure that a transplant is going to be needed. I could do it. I grew up with this person and I would like to help. I am not sure, however that I can live with the situation where I give my kidney and then she continues to drink anyway and it was all for nothing. On the other side of the fence. I do not know if I can live in this family as the person who says no. And everyone knows that I said no and it feels like I am almost a murderer. I am getting ahead of myself since I am not 100% that I will be required to do this. But I am not sure how to get my head straight around what I should do. My cousin has been an alcoholic for 15 years. She has been to rehab twice. She is very ill now and she swears she has had her last drink but I am not sure she is able to control her disease.
Read answer →Facing your Fears
I am going to be coming to stay for alcohol detox on this Saturday July 27th. I am scared. It is very important for me to get this help. Can you calm my nerves about coming in for the detox? -Maria
Read answer →To Intervene Or Not?
My mom had too much to drink at a BBQ yesterday and she was slurring her words in front of her grandkids. This was a bit unusual but I have noticed that she is drinking more wine than she used to. I am worried but if I bring it up she will be very offended. I don’t know how big a deal it is. She doesn’t drink in the day time at all but a few years ago she started drinking every night and now she drinks 2 or 3 glasses of wine every night. She is in her 60s. She never drank at all when she was younger and there is alcoholism in her family. Should I just wait to see if it becomes a bigger deal or do you think she is already at the point where I need to intervene, even though it is going to be a big ugly scene…
Read answer →Alcoholic! No. I'm Only a Weekend Drinker
My doctor told me that based on my answers in a test he did on my drinking (I answered totally honestly) I am probably an alcoholic. I was blown away by this. I have always considered myself a heavy drinker but I rarely drink during the week so I never thought of myself as really having a problem. He said you don’t have to drink everyday to be an alcoholic and that it is really more about how you crave it on regular basises. Can you help me to understand this? I thought that you were an alcoholic once your body was physically addicted to it and you got the shakes and whatnot when you didn’t have the alcohol everyday. If I can go 3 or 4 days without a drink with no problem can I really be an alcoholic? My doctor is new to the clinic and very young. I am not sure he has any real experience with this type of thing.
Read answer →Depression
Hi cannabis resin is not weed its the solid type you burn and put into a joint the depression is still with me now its been 6 months since i quit.I do feel scared & lonely a lot just wanted to know if this is to do with quitting the cannabis and will that scared feeling go away. I am seeing my community mental health team and a councilor the depression just started around 28th december 2012 thats when i quit smoking the cannabis.
Read answer →Call 911 NOW
Hi i gave up smoking cannabis resin nearly 6 months ago but i did have one joint 3 months ago.Im still going through depression with anxiety i have suffered depression & anxiety in the past.I feel very alone and scared is this anything to do with withdrwals.I am diagnosed with agoraphobia and ocd I feel scared quiet a lot the depression is bad and i have suicidle thoughts.Ive quit the cannabis before years ago for a few years then started again for around 3 years before i quit this time.
Read answer →Changing the stinking thinking.
How can I stop from being a dry drunk if I can’t or won’t go to AA?
Read answer →Being Held Hostage by the Disease of Alcoholism
What do I do when my girlfriend is still sneaking drinks even when she is 5 months pregnant with our child? If I say too much she will dump me. I cheated on her before I knew she was pregnant and I am on shaky ground with her. I worry if I am not watching her and living with her she will drink way more.
Read answer →Spice is Not Nice
Does Spice legal high cause long term memory problems and if it does how long does it take before you start to get your memory back. I was a pretty regular user until the fall and I started noticing that my memory was getting really effected and I also was feeling really jumpy and paranoid. So I stopped using and I thought I would get my memory back but it has not happened even 6 months later I feel just as slow and forgetful as if I was smoking every day. But I do not feel as paranoid anymore. I think this is really bad stuff. Its funny (sad funny) I would probably have been much better off just using regular marijuana but I couldn’t because of drug testing so I had to use this nasty chemical stuff that’s messed me up. Sucks to be me.
Read answer →Alcoholism and the Family
How can the family ever know when there is no legitimate hope that a person is ever going to be able to stop drinking? If a person has been in and out of treatment centers, recovery homes, jail and the street for the past 10 years is there any particular reason to keep trying? If there is we are willing to continue the fight/hope – I am just not sure if there is any point any longer. The constant hoping and disappointment is really hard on my parents.
Read answer →Insurance and Recovery
what is necessary for a drug/alcohol treatment program to accept insurance in South Carolina?
Read answer →Denied Entrance to Rehab?
Can a treatment facility refuse treatment to an addict due to past failed attempts at program completion?
Read answer →PROMETA: Alternative Treatments for Alcoholism
My doctor is talking about something called PROMETA treatment. I am an alcoholic and I asked him if there was a medicine that could help me. I have been to AA a few times over the past 12 years which is how long I have been drinking really heavy for. As I understand it it is based on nutritional therapy and talk counseling. I do not really know my doctor very well but there is something about this that sounds a little too good to be true. Is this nutritional therapy something that actually works for alcoholics? Would you recommend that I give it a try?
Read answer →An Altered State of Mind
Are there any substances that can get you high or buzzed that are not bad for you or addictive? I know this is a site that doesn’t promote drug use but I know myself and I can never give up drugs completely so I was just hoping that maybe I could find something that wouldn’t kill me at least.
Read answer →Alcoholism and Memory Loss
I was an active alcoholic for about 20 years. From the time I was 18 to almost my 40 th birthday. I am now 3 years sober. My life is so much better but I am starting to notice that my memory seems to be failing me. I can still remember past events OK but my short term memory is getting really bad. I know that alcoholism can cause memory damage but my memory was still ok when I stopped drinking. Could drinking from 3 years ago be causing the memory problems I am having today? If I was 30 years older I would swear I was getting Alzheimer’s.
Read answer →When the Intervention Doesn't Work
My family tried an intervention on the weekend for my mom who we think is an alcoholic. It did not work and now she won’t take any of our calls or let in her apartment. She is furious with us. She says we were trying to humiliate her in front of strangers and that we disclosed personal secrets to the whole family. This was a disaster. We all still feel like she desperately needs help but now that she won’t listen to any of us at all we don’t know how to make her get it? What do we do?
Read answer →I Don't Want to Die, but I really want to do the things I used to enjoy.
I am a big football fan but watching the games always gets me craving beers. I am 3 months sober. I have alcoholic liver disease and my doctor said if I didn’t quit drinking I was going to get cirrhosis so that was enough to get me to finally stop after 20 years of hard drinking. I do not want to die so I am serious about stopping for good. But I really want to be able to do the things I used to enjoy. How can I make it so that I can watch all the games and not feel these urges to drink?
Read answer →Can I use my grandfather as my Higher Power?
I am trying to go through the 12 steps sort of on my own. I do not believe in God. Is it ok to use the memory of my dead grandfather as a higher power. He was a really good person and I respected him a lot. I can kind of imagine having a conversation about any of this stuff I am going through today and he would always give me good advice. He would be like the good angel on my shoulder compared to the bad devil on my other shoulder that leads me down paths I shouldn’t walk down anymore.
Read answer →Dear Long-Time Recreational Drug User
I live in Des Moines. I am a long time recreational drug user, smoker and social drinker. I am not addicted to anything other than cigarettes but I ingest some sort of intoxicating substance pretty much every day. I have just turned 40 and I have had also just had a health scare so I made a promise to myself to stop smoking and drinking and drugs. Unfortunately I am finding it a lot harder than I thought I would. I have been trying for about 2 months and I have probably only abstained on half of the past 60 nights…so not exactly a great track record so far. I think I could use some help with this but other than rehab (which seems like over-kill) or AA (which does not fit me at all) I am not really sure where to look for help with this. I would welcome suggestions from you about what type of assistance fits someone in my position.
Read answer →Can Vitamin B supplements deter the damage of alcoholism?
I am a pretty heavy drinker. I only drink beer but I will have about 8 to 10 beers about 3 or 4 times a week. I have been drinking like this for about 15 years and I can see that I have done some damage to my thinking abilities from all the drinking. I just used to be a little bit sharper and quicker than I am now. Will vitamin B supplements protect my brain at all from the effects of alcohol? I do not really plan on quitting drinking any time soon but I would like to limit the damage if possible. I am a professional and I have managed to keep my shit together, even though it may sound like I have a serious case of the alkies.
Read answer →Regrets, Guilt and Shame from a Lost Past.
I did a lot of drugs and a lot of drinking for the past 10 years. I screwed up a lot of things over that time but one of my biggest regrets is that there is so much that happened that I don’t remember. My kids are 7 and 9 now and I can barely remember anything about there early childhood and that makes me so sad I want to cry. Is there any possibility that some of my memories will come back to me as I get more clean time? I am 6 weeks into recovery now.
Read answer →AA, NA and CA. Choices for recovery. Sobriety is the goal!
I am addicted to cocaine. I want to stop but there are no Narcotics Anonymous meetings in my town. Do you know if it is OK for me to go to an AA meeting instead, even though I do not have a problem with alcohol?
Read answer →Waiting On The Bottom
I am on a very bad 3 week binge right now and my wife has kicked me out so I am staying with at a friend's basement but he just told me his wife is giving him a lot of pressure and I am going to have to find somewhere else to stay real soon. I am out of work and the way I look right now there is no way anyone is going to be giving me a job. I also skipped a probation check in for my last DUI cause I am not supposed to drink and there was no way I could hide it. There is probably a warrant for my arrest right now. My next stop is going to be the street, pretty much and even now I can't stop drinking. I keep waiting for rock bottom and something that is going to make me ready to quit but it never comes. I don't understand, how much worse does it have to get?
Read answer →How To Know When It's Safe To Drink Again?
I got sober 11 years ago after a messed up youth spent doing a lot of drugs and drinking every night. I ran away from home when I was 16 and I fell in with a crowd that just did a lot of drugs so I did too and then eventually they made me depressed and anxious and I had to stop so I stopped completely. It was hard to stop at the time but now I never think about using anymore. Now I am in a totally different place in my life. I am engaged to be married, I have a good job and good friends. I don't ever crave or anything but I still remember all the warnings from NA and AA that I could never drink again. What I think though is that I am not the same person I was back then and I am not sure this total abstinence thing is necessary or fits me anymore. How can I know if it is safe for me to start drinking again?
Read answer →Taking the Function out of 'Functional Alcoholic'
I think the best way to describe my dad is that he is a functional alcoholic. He can drink from noon to bedtime but he keeps it pretty much together until the evening and he has been drinking this way his whole adult life as far as I can remember. We were worried that it would get worse after he retired but it didn’t seem to really change. Now he has dementia and he is no longer supposed to drink because it makes him noticeably more confused. But he is not really willing to change his habits of a lifetime which is understandable, but this makes things doubly hard on my mom. It is hard already for her to be watching him decline mentally and to be taking care of him but he is also getting a bit more aggressive when drunk then he ever used to be. I think this is probably as a result of his struggles to deal with what he knows is happening to him. Anyway, we don’t know what to do. How can we convince a man in his early 70s to change his lifetime habits when he doesn’t want to change?
Read answer →Stinking Thinking
I am an alcoholic and I have been to a few AA meetings over the years. I am currently still drinking. It always seems to me that the people at these meetings are as miserable as any you'd ever want to meet. They are healthier without the drink but I do not see them as happier. Do you think it is just people at AA meetings that are like this or is this what 'recovery' is like for everyone? (from a guy that is thinking about quitting but isn't sure he is ready for a crappy life just yet)
Read answer →Being a Parent Means Making the Hard Choices
I apologize that this message is so long. But I will try to summarize the best I can. I have a 24 yr old son, who we've been trying to help for the last 10 years with his mental health issues and addiction problem. My husband and I have never had drug/alcohol addiction, however my dad and my grandfather have been alcoholics. My son's problem started when his older brother (who had an opiate addiction) relapsed and tragically died of an overdose at the young age of 20. Our remaining son who at the time was 14 spiraled into a deep depression and debilitating anxiety kicked in shortly after (prior to this, we did notice that he had anxiety issues, but exaserbated). He isolated himself and threw himself into an online game that he used to cope. He would stay up all through the night playing and would have little communication with anyone. Despite our efforts of counseling, drug therapy prescribed by a psychiatrist, SPECT scan by the Amen Clinic, (which showed that he had anxiety disorder and mood disorder) etc. nothing seemed to work. He would have out of control rage and take it out on my husband and I. After a 1 1/2 years of this he went back to school, but when he did he started using alcohol first and then it turned into other drugs. He eventually was arrested at the age of 18 for posession of ecstasy and stolen property. He was ordered to a 6 month program, which he did and seemed to be doing better once he was out. Unfortunately, he soon got back into the drug scene and started using opiates. He has been on suboxone, which he has weaned himself off of just recently. He is sober now, but his addictive behavior goes into other areas of his life. Prior to giving notice, he worked in Las Vegas for a well known magician. After 8 months he decided to leave because of addiction to gambling and anxiety issues. He's now home with us (in California) and needs help to get his life on track. My husband and I have depleted all our savings, retirement, etc. to try to help our boys. My husband left his lucrative position when Aaron was 16 because we felt that we were losing him, too. Now we are at a point where we both are without work and financial means to help him. If you have any suggestions of low cost group home for young men who have mental health issues along with addiction issues to get some life coaching and possibly medication to help with debilitating anxiety would be so much appreciated. Or if you have any other suggestions? We are at a point where we know there's not more we can do, but want to try to reach out to other experts in this matter. Thank you so much - CC
Read answer →Fatal Denial That Love Cannot Fix
Im a mother with a middle aged son who drinks hard liquor. he has been drinking every day for 20 years but recently we conviced him to at least drink every other day. he doesnt feel he has a problem. lately, he has changed and now becomes incoherent and mean. im worried about the physical damage this had done, as well as mental. when he doesnt drink, he s a great person. i noticed his stomach seems to be getting seriously distended, could that be liver damage? we don't have any money or health plan, what can I do to get an evaluation or medical help?
Read answer →There is No Soft and Easy Way Through Recovery
I am not an alcoholic but I can't stop drinking. I don't know why I always forget the regret of the morning by the evening when I hit the bar. When I can't drink it is not a problem at all, I don't get the shakes or anything like that but it is not often that I am in a situation where I can't drink for any length of time. Would Antabuse be a good idea for me? I want to stop but I never do when it comes down to it. I think if I knew I was going to get sick f I drank then that would be reason enough to stay sober.
Read answer →Alcoholism is a Lifelong Disease
Can a person who was an alcoholic learn to drink in moderation ever again? My brother went through a real rough time with drinking and Dui's and even arrests for drunk and disorderly for a long time. He was sober for about 5 years but I went over yesterday and saw him drinking beer. He says now he can have a couple per day and leave it at that and that he has been doing this for the past year and that it is no problem. Should I be worried and tell the rest of the family that he is back at it or is what he is saying possible? It will be a big deal if I get everyone excited about this again so I don't want to do it if it is not necessary.
Read answer →Alcohol-Induced Cirrhosis of the Liver
My 33 year old brother is a long time heavy drinker. When I saw him yesterday he seemed to have lost quite a lot of weight and his abdomen seemed oddly distended. Am I wrong to assume that these are signs that something is gong seriously wrong with his liver? He is not jaundiced but he looks very unhealthy. He says he is fine but he does not look fine and I am not sure if the family needs to step in and try again to get him to accept some help. We have tried to get him into AA before but he has always denied that he has a problem.
Read answer →Substance Dependence: You have reason to be concerned
I am not at all an alcoholic because I never drink during the work week but I like to drink during the weekends. I have weekend custody of my kids and my 11 year old son just talked to me about my drinking and he asked me to stop drinking so much because he is worried about me. This freaked me out quite a lot and felt bad for putting him in a position where he had to worry about me instead of the other way around. I promised him I would stop and I meant it. But that was 2 weeks ago and I have failed 2 weekends in a row to stop drinking. My son seems to have forgotten about it or at least he is not mentioning it anymore but I am freaked out that I can't stop! I am not an alcoholic but I was craving alcohol very badly when I tried not to drink on friday and Saturday nights. I am now worried about myself and I want to stop for a while. What is the best way for me to get back in control of my drinking?
Read answer →28 Day Rehab over Alternatives
Is there really any advantage to going to do a drug rehab for a month instead of just getting like counselor to work with one on one? I need some help with my drinking but the rehab my family wants to send me to costs like 15 grand. Is there any advantage in spending most of the day going to aa meetings and doing arts and crafts and stuff over just going to talk to my own therapist every day or every other day... for like a fifh the cost? I guess what i am wondering is if there is something special in rehab that i am not seeing. As far as I can see it's like an overpriced summer camp with occasionally worthwhile moments of therapy?
Read answer →Marijuana Withdrawal: Feeling anxious and paranoid
I stopped smoking last week because pot was making me feel really paranoid all the time. I never used to have this problem. I was the guy that could do grams and grams per day and never get too high and then a few months ago I started to get uncomfortably high sometimes and then I gradually came to realize that I was not really enjoying being high anymore and that a lot of the time when I was high I was anxious and scared and feeling paranoid. But now I have not smoked in a week and it was pretty hard to do that. I was hoping i would be feeling a lot better by now but actually i am still feeling quite anxious and paranoid. Is this a normal withdrawal symptoms of quitting pot or is it maybe that pot was never the problem at all and i am just becoming a paranoid and anxious person all the time?
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